Facing $10M shortfall, Johnston schools turning to county for help

Interim Superintendent Jim Causby told the school board recently that he discovered the shortfall in October and has already taken steps to eliminate more than $7 million in expenditures by getting rid of vacant positions and cutting supplies.

"I was floored when he said at the time the little money that we had to pay the bills," Anita Bland, the parent of a Clayton High School student. "You don’t just wake up one morning and find out you’re $10 million in the hole. That just doesn’t happen. There was a lot leading up to this."

Mike Wooten, chairman of the Johnston County Board of Education, said population growth and rising costs have led to many budget challenges.

"We have identified the reasons for our shortfall," Wooten said in an email to WRAL News. "All of our adjustments are centered around protecting the classroom, teachers and students."

Causby plans to ask the county Board of Commissioners for an extra $8.8 million to help with expenses at the board's Dec. 6 meeting.

"I’m so disappointed that we got to this point before someone took the reins and started turning this around," Bland said, adding that she worries about what might get cut if the county doesn't come through with the needed money.

"I’m not sure what’s going to happen in our school rooms. Are we going to have the staff that we need for school rooms?" she said. "With the threat of additional cuts, it’s disturbing, frightening to all of us."